word of the day 3

hyperbole

A figure of speech in which a statement is exaggerated for emphasis or for humorous effect. Writers often use hyperbole to intensify a description or to emphasize the essential nature of something. For example, if a writer says that a limousine is a mile long, he/she is using

sarcasm

A form of verbal irony, usually harsh, that is often used as an insult.

summary statement

A general statement that presents the main points or facts in condensed form, omitting unimportant details and information.

Chart

A type of graphic aid that presents information, shows a process, or makes comparisons, usually in rows and columns.

Tone

An expression of a writer's attitude toward a subject. Unlike mood, which is intended to shape the reader's emotional response, tone reflects the feelings of the writer. Tone can be serious, humorous, sarcastic, playful, ironic, bitter, or objective.

irony

A contrast between what is expected and what actually exists or happens. Irony involves the tension that arises from the discrepancy, either between what one says and what one means or does. Exaggeration, sarcasm, and understatement are techniques writers use to express irony.y

Personification

A figure of speech in which a nonhuman thing or quality is written about as if it were human. In the phrase the blue stars shiver, human attributes are given to stars. Rocks lie on their backs and the rock has an open wound are other examples.

Literary device

A literary technique used to achieve a particular effect, such as descriptive language and figurative language.

Drawing conclusion

A special kind of inference that involves not reading between the lines but reading beyond the lines. The reader combines what he or she already knows with information from the text. Readers can draw a conclusion from stated facts or facts they infer and then combine all the facts to support their conclusion.

Theme

An underlying message about life or human nature that the author wants the reader to understand and that may give readers insight into the author's view of the world. A theme is not the same as a moral, which is a rule of conduct.

Descriptive languange

Language intended to create a mood, person, place, thing, event, emotion, or experience. Descriptive language uses images that appeal to the reader's senses, helping the reader to imagine how a subject looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels. Descriptive language is used in fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry. Some examples of descriptive language include imagery, alliteration, and mood.

Imagery

Language that appeals to the senses. It is used in all types of writing, but especially in poetry. Imagery consists of descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for the reader. Imagery usually appeals to one or more of the five senses— sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—to help the reader imagine exactly what is being described.

pun

Play on the multiple meanings of a word or on two words that sound alike but have different meanings. Example: I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

Literary elements

Refers to the particular elements common to all literary and narrative forms. Some examples of literary elements are theme, setting, conflict, characters, plot, and point of view.

Inference

The act or process of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true; the conclusions drawn from this process.

Mood

The feeling or atmosphere that a writer creates for the reader. The use of connotation, details, imagery, figurative language, foreshadowing, setting, and rhythm can help establish mood.

symbolism

The use of something concrete (for example: an object, a setting, an event, an animal, or a person) that functions in a text to represent something more than itself. A symbol must be something tangible or visible, while the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract or universal. For example, a dark forest has often been used as a symbol of being lost and confused in life.

Onomonpeia

The use of words whose sounds suggest their meanings (e.g., meow, buzz, splash)

evalutate

To evaluate a piece of literature is to form opinions about what is read. Through this process readers may develop their own ideas about characters and events.

Interpret

To translate, analyze, or give examples drawn from a text. This process involves making an inference beyond the literal meaning of a text in order to determine meaning.

satire

Type of writing that ridicules human weakness in order to bring about social reform. Satires often try to persuade the reader to do or believe something by showing the opposite view as absurd or even as vicious and inhumane. One of the favorite techniques of the satirists is exaggeration, overstating something to make it look worse than it is. For example, George Orwell's novel Animal Farm uses barnyard animals to mock the way people abuse political power.

Paraphrasing

summarizing something written in your own words. This helps readers to clarify meaning by restating information.

Implied Main Idea

the main idea of a passage or an article that is not directly stated but formed from what is suggested by an author from the supporting details. This is also sometimes called the essential message.